


Lost Rose

by ladyroxanne21



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Not very graphic references to violence, So I'm trying my hand at a crime drama, Which means that this first part is actually suitable for general audiences, but the rating will make more sense in the next part or two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-19 22:43:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10649592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyroxanne21/pseuds/ladyroxanne21
Summary: When Hermione comes home from work one fine summer day, she thinks everything is normal. Until it isn't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my very first ever attempt at a crime drama because I usually can't stand them, lol! I honestly dislike drama in general, preferring comedy or fantasy. Anime of all types, but especially Kyo Kara Maoh.  
> And as for crime shows, I spend half of them (that I'm forced to watch because my hubby just *loves* them, sigh) literally yelling at the TV because those MFin' cops are lying and doing blatantly illegal esh just to catch their criminal. I'm all for catching criminals, but I (perhaps naively) feel that cops shouldn't be able to lie and do illegal things to catch criminals.  
> Anyway, this story hit me in the shower and refused to not be written (that happens to me a lot, I guess, lol), and so here I am, writing not just a drama, but a *crime drama!* Thus, it will probably suck. Please don't criticize me too hard, lol :-)

“Hi honey, how was work?”

Hermione smiled. “It was hectic, as usual.” She kissed him. “How was your day?”

Ron pulled her close and nuzzled her neck. “Oh, the same as usual. I told jokes and made people laugh.”

Hermione grinned at her husband. “And the kids?”

Ron shrugged. “Hugo decided to stay at mum's tonight because she's having some of the other kids there overnight, and Rose came home but immediately went out to play with a friend.”

Hermione nodded. “Alright. I guess I'll make something for dinner.”

“We could always order in,” Ron suggested with a suggestive smile. “That'd give us some time to be alone for a few minutes.”

Hermione hummed in thought. “Mmm... Tempting, but no. I have shrimp that needs to be used up before it goes bad.”

“Alright,” Ron agreed with a pout. “I'll use your computer thingy to order some ice cream to be delivered for dessert.”

“That sounds good,” Hermione moaned in agreement as she kicked off her shoes and let her hair out of a tight bun. A moment later, she kissed her husband as she gathered her hair to put it in a loose pony tail so that it was out of the way while she cooked. While she walked toward the kitchen, she transfigured her clothes into something more comfortable.

About a half an hour later, she called out: “Hey Ron, love, send a Patronus to Rose telling her that it's time to come eat dinner!”

Ron was actually in the middle of accepting delivery of the ice cream he had ordered. The delivery boy raised a brow in confusion.

“A Patronus?”

Ron chuckled. “It's one of those mad things our family does. We take normal words – such as text message – and change them into nonsense words that no one else knows. It's sort of like our very own secret language.”

“Ah,” the boy murmured in understanding. “Your family sounds fun.”

Ron laughed. “You think that's fun, I also own a joke shop. Everyday is a joy for me!”

The boy gave a forced smiled that let Ron know – even though he was usually oblivious to such things – that the delivery boy felt he rarely had a reason to be happy or laugh. Not saying another word, Ron simply paid the boy and gave him a big tip.

“Thanks!” The delivery boy exclaimed with a grin.

“No problem,” Ron murmured, closing the door. A moment later, he cast a Patronus and told it: “Tell Rose, your mum's made dinner and wants you to come home.” As he said this, he carried the ice cream into the kitchen.

Hermione looked up at him just as the silvery Jack Russel Terrier nodded in understanding and ran off. Ron held up the cooler bag.

“I ordered your favorite – chocolate and caramel covered nuts,” he informed her.

She moaned in anticipation, kissing him again. “I can't wait!”

Over the next 20 minutes, Hermione finished cooking, helped Ron set the table, and dished everyone up. Then she looked out the window. Slowly, a frown covered her face.

“What friend is she playing with? She should be back by now.”

Ron shrugged. “She didn't say. She's probably just distracted.”

Hermione nodded. “You're right. I'll just send her another Patronus.” The moment the silvery otter burst into existence, she told it: “Tell Rose: Dinner is ready and waiting. Come home now!”

The married couple sat down and picked at their food as they waited. They were both hungry and wanted to eat before it got cold, but also wanted to save some for when their daughter got home. Another 15 minutes passed in mindless chitchat, each telling the other more about their respective days.

Eventually, Hermione lost all patience and summoned her cellphone. Methodically, she called everyone in the area that could have seen or might know where Rose was. Without exception, they all said that they hadn't seen Rose since much earlier in the day. None of Rose's friends knew where she was, nor had any actually played with her that day.

This information sent Hermione into something very close to panic. Ron tried his best to be strong and supportive for her. He pulled her close and stroked her back.

“I'm sure she's fine. She _has_ to be,” he murmured. “She... just got lost or something.”

“Yeah,” Hermione agreed vaguely. “That must be it. We should go look for her.”

Ron shook his wife very lightly. “Are you a witch or aren't you? Cast a location spell.”

Hermione let out a small chuckle that was half nervous and half terrified, plus a little sheepish. “Er, yeah. Good idea.” She tried not to run as she went to Rose's room and grabbed some hair out of a brush. After a few moments of intense concentration, she cast the location spell.

Both parents practically held their breath as they waited for the spell to do its job. The minutes ticked by so slowly that they'd swear an eon or two passed. Then... the spell fizzled. No result.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other in apprehension.

“The spell...” Hermione whispered, pale and shaky.

“Wait,” Ron murmured, also pale but trying to remain calm. “What are the reasons the spell would fail?”

“Well... I... I suppose if someone cast a spell on her to purposely deflect a location spell. Or if she was somewhere behind powerful wards. Or...”

Neither parent really wanted to say or hear the D word.

Ron rubbed Hermione's arm soothingly. “It's probably something else. Maybe the spell was cast incor – er...”

Normally, Hermione would glare at him for daring to suggest that she had cast a spell incorrectly, but now, she was desperate for something so simple to be true. Thus, rather than complain or protest, she simply cast the spell again. Exactly the same as the first time, the spell fizzled after what felt like forever.

Hermione gasped, tears flowing even as she tried her best to hold them in. “We... We need to... get help. We need to – ”

But Ron was already nodding in agreement. He cast his Patronus. “Tell Harry: Rose is missing and we need you right away!”

Hermione clung to Ron and cried on his chest. She knew she would need to be clear headed in order to think and come up with a plan to find her daughter, but at the moment, she couldn't stop from falling apart. Meanwhile, Ron rubbed her back, knowing that she would eventually pull herself together, and then he'd be able to fall apart.

Harry Apparated into their kitchen about a minute later. “Did you cast a location spell?”

“Twice,” Ron stated grimly.

“Right,” Harry replied, knowing that if Hermione's spell failed, then this was as serious as it could get. He took a moment to wrap his arms around both of his best friends, and then kissed Hermione on the cheek. “Well find her.”

Hermione nodded, feeling hope since Harry was head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and had every possible resource at his command. Not to mention, Hermione was the Minister for Magic and everyone would make this their top priority. However, this fact was also probably why Rose was missing.

Ron nodded when Harry squeezed his shoulder.

“Try not to worry just yet. Chances are that she was taken by someone who wants to ask for a hefty ransom, or wants Hermione to use her power as Minister for a specific agenda,” Harry informed them. “Which means that she's probably fine. We'll get her back.”

Both Ron and Hermione nodded at him. Hermione was slowly calming down. Now that Harry was on the case, she had every faith that he would find Rose and bring her home as soon as possible. She kissed him on the cheek, and then pointed at the fireplace.

“Go...”

Harry nodded, then Flooed to his office so that he could mobilize his entire department.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first part of what I plan to be three parts. I'm not sure. The only thing I do know for sure is what I plan to happen, but sometimes, my writing veers wildly off course, lol!  
> I hope I've given just enough info in this part to form at least a little speculation. I'd love to hear (read) theories :-D


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Ron and Hermione - and Harry - search for Rose, they do their best not to lose hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in canon, Rose is approximately 11 or 12 on September 1st 2017. However, her exact birthday is not listed, but since she is so like her mother, I'm thinking she was also born in September and 12 when she started Hogwarts. That's canon. This is just like canon except I want Rose to be 13 and home for summer hols after her first year - thus it wouldn't technically be 2017, and yet I'm going to say it is. So, not quite canon compliant.

“Alright, so, here's the situation so far,” Harry informed his two best friends. It was early morning and neither had slept much if at all because they were too worried about their missing thirteen year old daughter. “No one has seen Rose since around noon yesterday. The last she was seen, she was walking alone into the woods.”

“She plays there all the time,” Hermione pointed out in a soft voice.”

“I know,” Harry acknowledged. “Therefore, it's not likely that she got lost while playing because she knows that forest very well. That's why we think that she was probably kidnapped. That said, we haven't been contacted by anyone yet. If these kidnappers follow the general pattern as others, they will most likely call by tonight – which is just enough time for you to really start to panic about her being missing.”

Harry fell silent so that Hermione could take a few deep breaths to absorb this information and calm down. Ron held her and vaguely stared at the ceiling as he rubbed her back. Small tears welled in his eyes, so he closed them even as he swallowed once or twice, as if trying to stop from crying by literally swallowing the tears.

When he thought they might be ready, Harry continued. “Naturally, we'll have to wait for someone to contact us if she's been kidnapped and is being held for ransom. However, that doesn't mean that there's nothing we can do. I've gathered together a team. We're going to search the woods. If she got hurt... If she got lost – however unlikely – we'll find her. And if she was kidnapped, we might find some clues as to who took her.”

Hermione nodded in understanding while Ron held up a hand. “We're going to look too. We knows these woods. If she's simply hurt somewhere, we'll find her.”

“But Ron...” Hermione whispered as if speaking in a normal volume was too difficult at the moment. “If she was simply lost or hurt, my spell would have found her...”

“I know love,” Ron admitted, his eyes shiny again. “But we have to try.”

Hermione nodded in agreement. “Yes... we have to do something...”

Harry cleared his throat. “Right. So, my team is organized so that they can search everywhere in a grid. This way, nothing will be missed. They're going to start at the edge of the forest closest to your house and keep going until they find her or run out of places to look. They'll be using spells to detect heat signatures and other spells that might help. The two of you can just search, regardless of where the others are. Maybe you'll know of the little hidey holes she might be in. If anyone finds her they'll throw up sparks. Red if she's injured, green if she's fine. Orange sparks are if anything else that might be important is found – such as a shoe.”

Ron and Hermione nodded in understanding. After that, the trio went to the woods and joined in on the search. The light from the sun was bright enough to see by, but still rather dim in the forest.

The team worked with only a couple breaks for food throughout the day. Ron and Hermione made it a point to check every spot they could think of that Rose might hide in. Harry alternated between actually looking and Apparating back to his base of operations to see if the witch waiting for any sort of call from the kidnappers had news.

The witch, Susan Bones, was also the person each member of the team checked in with, sending her a Patronus every fifteen to twenty minutes with updates. Not that there was anything to report. When Harry popped in, he didn't expect anything since she would have sent him a Patronus if she had news.

As expected, she shook her head. “Nothing yet.”

Just then, a rookie sent them a Patronus. “I've just sent up orange sparks because I've found a shoe, but...” there was a heavy sigh. “I'm about four kilometers down river...”

Harry looked at Susan. “I'll go check it out. If it belongs to Rose, I'll send a Patronus to Ron and Hermione, otherwise, please don't say anything to them. I don't want them to panic if it's just a random shoe.”

“Understood,” Susan stated with a nod.

Harry Apparated to his rookie, but the shoe turned out to be too small, more appropriate for a girl of about eight. With a sigh of both disappointment and relief, Harry returned to his search. When night fell, he mandated a break – even going so far as to order a Mediwitch to administer Dreamless Sleep to his friends so they had no choice but to get some rest.

The next morning – while they were still sleeping – Harry decided that it would probably be a good idea to call in a muggle liaison with a trained dog to search for Rose. Often, trained dogs could smell things that not even magic could detect. Then Harry took the time to make breakfast so that by the time Ron and Hermione woke up, all they had to do was eat something before rejoining the search.

Upstairs in their bedroom, the troubled parents drifted awake slowly. At first, the Dreamless Sleep potion had the effect of letting them wake up without thinking about anything. They felt a vague sense of peace... until Hermione started thinking about everything she had to do that day and remembered that her daughter was missing.

Her quiet sobbing reminded Ron too, and he couldn't stop from crying either. For many long moments, the married couple did nothing but hold each other and cry. Eventually, Hermione pulled herself together.

“We should get up and go look some more,” she suggested in a voice still thick from emotion.

“Yeah,” Ron agreed softly. “And maybe that ransom call will have come in while we were sleeping. Maybe all we'll have to do is pay some money to get her back.”

Hermione nodded sadly. “Let's hope...”

When ready, they joined Harry in their kitchen. The trio was mostly silent as they ate. Ginny popped in for a few minutes to comfort her brother and best friend, but then had to go because she was tasked with coordinating with the Daily Prophet to not only break the story gently, but also be available if anyone knew anything and wanted to owl in a tip.

Molly appeared in the fireplace a couple of minutes after Ginny Disapparated. “I've told Hugo that you asked me to keep him for a while longer. I wasn't sure if you'd want me to tell him that his sister is missing.”

Hermione shook her head. “Not just yet. Hopefully, we'll find her today. If not, we'll tell him tonight.”

“Alright love,” Molly agreed softly. “Arthur spent a few hours after the kids went to bed last night fire calling Bill and Fleur, Charlie, and Percy and Audrey. They've all promised to help with the search today. As have George and Angelina again.” She gave them a smile full of love and sympathy. “Don't you worry about your boy – or any of the kids. I've got them. You just find our Rose.”

Both Ron and Hermione nodded.

“Thanks Molly,” Harry murmured. “I've called in a special muggle officer who has a trained dog. They arrived this morning and I had the dog sniff around Rose's room. With any luck, the dog will have found something by now.”

“Good,” Molly stated firmly. Then she blew them all a kiss before waving and ending the call.

Just after his best friends left to look more, Harry stopped in to see if Susan knew anything new. Susan shook her head and shrugged.

“There's not much, but the dog definitely found a trail,” she informed him.

Just then, a silvery hawk burst into existence. “There's news. The dog found a pile of ash. Preliminary assessment was that something was burned here within the last 24 to 48 hours. For all we know, Rose Weasley could have made a fire to keep herself warm last night. The Muggle liaison said the dog had a harder time finding the trail after that, but is definitely following something. I'm sticking to her and the dog as ordered, but I'm leaving one of the rookies behind to keep an eye on the ash.”

Susan cast a Patronus. “Understood. Thank you.”

Harry cast his own Patronus. “Tell Pansy Parkinson: There's a clue for your team to analyze. It's non medical, Parkinson, so you might want to simply send whichever of your team specializes in the branch of forensics that includes ash from a fire. I need to know everything there is to know about it. If it was twigs and leaves, then it could mean that Rose was just trying to keep warm, but if it's anything else at all, it could potentially tell us a lot of useful information.”

The stag nodded respectfully before running off. About 30 seconds passed in silence before an enormous mastiff burst into existence. It was Pansy Parkinson's Patronus.

“Understood sir. I'll bring my whole team anyway just in case there is other evidence in the area that can't be seen without certain forensic spells,” Pansy said.

Harry took a moment to simply breathe as he wondered what to tell his friends. Before he could decide, another Patronus burst into existence.

“Sorry! False alarm! That fire is from a group of us that decided to spend the night in the forest just in case Rose was somehow hiding during the day and sneaking around at night.”

Harry sighed and sent out a Patronus letting them know he understood, followed by another to call off his forensics team. Then he gave into his frustration by throwing his mug of tea across the room. It shattered with a less than satisfying crash.

“Nothing!” He roared. “No calls from kidnappers! No solid clues! How does a little girl just disappear without a trace?!”

Susan placed a comforting hand on his shoulder but didn't even attempt to spout trite nonsense.

Harry yanked on his hair and forced himself to breathe.

“I'm going back out there,” he stated when he felt ready.

Susan nodded in understanding, but before Harry could leave, she got a call on her cellphone. She glanced at the caller ID, and then gave Harry a significant look.

“It's from the muggle police liaison office,” she informed him and then answered the phone. “Hello?” A long moment passed in near silence. “Uh-huh.” Another moment. “Got it. Thanks.” She hung up and stared off at nothing for a few seconds.

“What?” Harry demanded impatiently. “Was that news? Did someone find her?”

Susan swallowed thickly. “That was the, well, I already said. Anyway, they got a report from a muggle.” She swallowed again. “Police responded to a call from a man fishing downriver about seven kilometers from here this morning... He... He found a body... They are pretty sure it's her...”

“Oh God!” Harry cried out, pressing a hand to his forehead. He took several deep breaths. “I'll... I'll go see for myself. If it's her, I'll break the news to...” he faltered, his throat feeling too thick with emotion all of a sudden to speak.

Susan simply nodded. After another few deep breaths, Harry Apparated to the part of the river he could visualize, and then rode his broom until he reached the group of muggle police officers. A Notice-Me-Not charm allowed him to land just out of sight, and then walk to them. He flashed his badge at the officer guarding the perimeter, and was directed over to the woman in charge.

“Who are you?” She asked rather bluntly.

Harry showed her his badge. “I'm a special agent in charge of this case, and...” he sighed heavily. “If it's her, I'm her uncle.”

The woman nodded. “Which means that you'll be able to confirm her identity.”

Harry nodded in response. “Also, if it's her, my team will be taking over.”

“Not your jurisdiction,” she protested, but Harry gave her a firm and commanding look.

“Actually, I think you'll find that my jurisdiction is anything I say it is, and the death of my niece definitely falls in that category.”

The officer wanted to protest even farther, but one of the liaison officers quickly stepped in to assure her that Harry was telling the truth. With that settled, Harry stepped over to the woman who was standing next to a professional quality sheet covering a body shaped lump on the ground. The woman held up her hands in a gesture warning Harry not to touch anything.

“My preliminary assessment is that this poor girl was –”

But Harry cut her off. “Please, I just need to see her before we go any further.”

With a sigh, the woman thought this over for a moment, and then nodded in acceptance. Carefully, she pulled back the sheet just enough to reveal the head and shoulders of a girl about thirteen years old with bright red hair. She was wearing the fitted blue tee shirt with a picture of a unicorn on it that Ron had reported Rose wearing when she left the house.

Even without these visual details, Harry knew. He closed his eyes and concentrated on nothing but his breathing for a long time. When he opened his eyes again, he nodded at the officer in charge.

“It's her.”

The muggle liaison officer – a man that actually outranked the officer in charge – quietly gave the woman all the information she would need for her report. Such as: “The victim's name was Rose Weasley.” And: “This case is now officially transferred to Special Agent Harry Potter.”

Harry quietly added. “You can send everyone here away. I'm going to call in my own team.”

The officer in charge and the medical examiner were both obviously unhappy, but couldn't argue. Growling softly, they ordered their respective teams to pack up and leave – as well as handing over all the gathered evidence. When they were gone, Harry cast a Patronus.

“Tell Susan: it's her. I'm going to get Ron and Hermione. Please send a Patronus to Pansy Parkinson. I want her to give us about twenty minutes, and then I want her team to come in.”

A minute later, Susan's Patronus appeared before Harry. “Understood Sir.”

Harry asked the liaison to keep watch over the body. After that, Harry used Hermione as a focus. When he appeared near her and Ron, he used a few curt hand gestures to order everyone else to leave. Adding: “Go check in with Susan Bones.”

Both Ron and Hermione appeared hopeful for just one second before it occurred to them that Harry did not look happy – as he would if Rose had been found. Plus, his eyes were just a little red. Ron looked to the ground as Hermione closed her eyes.

“Harry?” Hermione inquired in a timid voice.

Harry took a deep breath. “We found her...”

“And...?” Hermione asked in whisper.

Harry simply pulled her and Ron into his arms and held them for a moment before answering. “I'll take you to her when you are ready. Unless you'd prefer to wait to see her until she's been brought to the...”

“Morgue...” Ron supplied, also in a near whisper.

Hermione broke out into an anguished sob. She cried on Harry for a couple of seconds before shifting to cling to Ron, who clung to her in return as they both used Harry as support. The three of them let their grief wash over them for nearly five minutes, but eventually, Hermione pulled herself together.

“I think I'm ready to see her now...”

Harry nodded, wiping away his tears and taking a few breaths to calm down. “Of course.”

Ron managed to quiet down, but his tears still flowed freely as Harry Apparated them to their daughter. The muggle liaison silently pulled back the sheet to let them get a good look. This triggered another round of sobbing, but all of them knew – from many years of working with/for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (or, in Ron's case, being around them as they talked about it) – that they couldn't touch her until after she'd been examined for all possible evidence.

Right on time, Pansy Parkinson and her team arrived outside the perimeter. Pansy walked up to the trio, and then visibly bit back all of her attitude. Standing as professionally as possibly, she looked Hermione in the eye.

“I realize that you probably feel compelled to hover over us as we work, Minister. However, it really will be for the best if you go home and try to get some rest while we do our jobs. If there is _anything_ you need to know, I promise, you'll know it almost as soon as I do.”

“Thank you,” Hermione managed to croak out.

“Come,” Harry ordered. “I'll bring you back to my place for now.”

His friends could only nod in agreement, so he did exactly that, trusting that his people would send word the moment they knew anything. In the meantime, he needed to comfort his friends and help them figure out how to tell Hugo. And Molly.

To his relief, all the Weasleys – except for Molly and all the kids – were waiting for them in Harry's kitchen. In times like this, Harry was beyond grateful that the Weasley family was so big. It meant that there was literally a dozen people to share in the grief. To comfort each other. To give Ron and Hermione so many hugs that Harry lost count after the first ten or so.

It also meant that he could seek comfort rather than be the strong one comforting his best friends in the world. Eventually, Fleur, Audrey, and Angelina volunteered to go to the Burrow and watch all the kids so that Molly could be here with her family. This turned out to be the best idea anyone could have had because Molly had experience losing a child and could offer motherly support no one else could. Such as reminding someone to call for Hermione's parents.

Thus passed one of the strangest nights of their lives as the family was too sad to say much, but also too awake to sleep, and too needy to want to be alone. They basically all sat around the kitchen holding hands and crying on each other's shoulders.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had trouble writing this chapter because I was thinking to myself: "If I wanted to get away with this crime, how would I do it? Oh! Start by burning her clothes! But wait, they have magic, so... transfigure her clothes into something else. No actually, they'd just vanish her clothes, and wait, I actually want her to be wearing her clothes, so... okay the fire was a false alarm, sigh..."  
> Honestly, I spent like two hours debating with myself if a dead body could be transfigured or vanished. I mean why not? Right? BUT never once was it reported in any of the books that any bodies were transfigured or vanished. If they could be, don't you think that at least some of the more subtle murders would have been covered up that way by Voldemort himself before he was ready to go big?  
> So... Body. Which was probably a good thing or Rose would have just been missing forever like Jacob Wetterling, and that's not really much of a story - at least not for someone who has no idea how to write a good crime drama.  
> Anyway, as I said before, I plan for this to have one more part (chapter, whatever), in which it is resolved. I might just break it into two tiny parts, because it's a heavy subject. Either way, I still love speculation :-)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry listens to Pansy's official report on what happened to Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains references that might trigger some readers.   
> This chapter is like a scene from CSI, so if that might trigger you, please take care.

Harry walked into the lab so softly that he could almost be accused of sneaking in. The truth was, he wasn't entirely certain he was ready to hear the report just yet. Thus, he stood near the door simply watching the forensics team work in silence for a few minutes before anyone noticed him.

“Sir,” Pansy Parkinson addressed him with gruff respect as she beckoned him over to her. “We've finished our report and... Well, it's not good.”

“I understand,” Harry acknowledged with a short nod.

Pansy actually took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “The victim was... Well, in all likelihood, she was killed on accident. Evidence indicates that she was, er... I'm going to say raped. However, it could have also been consensual, the evidence cannot confirm that either way. It wasn't quite violent enough to be a clear case of rape, but considering the fact that she died, it does seem more likely.”

Pansy sighed before continuing. “Perimortem bruising indicates that her, er, rapist – that he held a hand over her mouth. He probably wanted to keep her quiet so that she couldn't attract attention, but he did so in a way that suffocated her.”

Pansy walked to the side of the table and picked up Rose's hand. “Normally, we'd have a lot of physical evidence to work with. Even if she was trying to lay passive, she would have probably grabbed her rapist at some point. Thus, there should be skin cells or clothing fibers or  _anything_ to give us clues, but she's completely clean. That tells me that her rapist was a wizard that knew at least one spell – a Scourgify. He was thorough in his efforts to make her as clean as possible, and so, got rid of all the evidence we normally use to identify and convict the criminal.”

“And you are certain it was a wizard?” Harry asked after closing his eyes so he didn't have to look at the sheet covering the body or the hand that Pansy was holding.

Pansy shrugged. “More than likely, yes. Unless it was a witch using a strap on because poor Rose was definitely penetrated. As I said, it wasn't rough. In fact, I almost missed it. If I was performing a medical exam on a live patient, I would have concluded that the sex was consensual with perhaps a touch of kink, but since she died,” Pansy spread her hands wide, as if saying: _it probably wasn't._

She sighed again. “In any case, my team is going to go over her one more time with every spell and technique we can think of to see if we can find anything we missed. If we do, I'll let you know.”

Harry nodded as he accepted a copy of the report. “I'll bring this to Hermione.”

Pansy placed a hand on Harry's arm. “Listen, I know that none of us got along in school, but I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Please tell the Minister that she has my deepest sympathy.”

Harry nodded again. “I will.”

“I'm also going to do everything I can to find something,” Pansy promised with a glint in her eye that reminded Harry that she was a Slytherin and he probably didn't want to question her methods in this instance too closely.

Nodding one last time, he turned and left the room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is one more chapter planned to resolve the story. I am so grateful for the speculation because it reminded me that there is a small detail I forgot that will be making an appearance in the next chapter :-)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where before there was none, now Harry has evidence to work with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I should probably wait until tomorrow to post this chapter, but I feel really bad that the last chapter was so short. Actually, this chapter wouldn't exist at all if Phandancee74 hadn't pointed out a detail I was otherwise just going to skip over, lol! Since I am not used to writing crime dramas, I was just going to skip straight to the resolution, but once it was pointed out, I realized that I did actually have an explanation for certain things that should be put into the story. So. Another chapter :-)

“I just came by to say once more how sorry I am that things turned out the way they did.”

Harry nodded in understanding. “Thank you. Even though your dog didn't find her, he was the only thing that made me feel like something useful was being done.”

The muggle officer who was trained to work with dogs – who was a part of the liaison office and so knew about the wizarding community – shifted unconsciously from side to side. Harry frowned at him. A moment passed in uncomfortable silence.

“Is there something else?” Harry asked.

“Er... well... I'm not sure this actually means anything, but I noticed two things that you might want to look into.”

Harry tilted his head up in interest. “What things?”

“First, Stinger was very interested in that fire. Not, er, not actually the ash from fire itself, but the ground around and under it. If I were you, I'd have forensics go over it after all,” the liaison suggested.

“Alright,” Harry agreed because they still hadn't discovered the crime scene, which could potentially have clues they'd need to find and convict the killer.

“And second, Stinger was particularly interested in one of the men who was searching. I thought nothing of it at first. I thought he had probably just handled some of Rose's things and thus had her scent on him, but... Well, I thought about it a lot after I went home and now I'm thinking that he might be a suspect.”

“Alright,” Harry acknowledged, and then tried to swallow a sudden lump in his throat. “Who?”

The man told him, and then left, sensing that Harry wanted to be alone in silence with his thoughts. A few minutes later, the silence was broken by a knock on the door.

“Do you have a moment, Sir?” Pansy asked.

Harry tried to answer but nothing came out at first, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “Yeah. Come in.”

Pansy declined the offer to sit, opting instead to stand in a way that was reminiscent of a soldier at rest – despite the fact that she was never trained as a soldier. “I found something. Our criminal wasn't quite as thorough as he tried to be. His Scourgify didn't quite clean everything out of Rose's vagina. I have a very tiny but definite sample of semen. All I need now is a sample to match it to.”

Harry was temporarily just a little flustered. “You want me to go around asking all the men in the area for samples of their semen?!”

Pansy gave him a tiny smile reminiscent of a shark for a moment before smoothing her expression into a professional one once more. “Yes and no. A semen sample would give the clearest results, but actually a hair, a nail clipping, some skin cells – basically anything would work in lieu of semen.”

“Understood,” Harry stated with a small amount of relief. _Finally_ , there was progress.

Pansy hesitated for a moment, making Harry frown again.

“Is there something else?”

Pansy bit her lip and looked to the floor for a moment. “Actually... There is. I feel...” she sighed and shrugged. “Like an idiot rookie or something. You see, during our first examination, we found a hair that I dismissed as inconsequential. So, I left it out of our report. Now, however, I'm thinking that it should be part of the report and whether or not it is actually important is up to you to decide.” She handed him an updated report that included both the semen sample and the hair.

Harry nodded in acceptance. “Alright. Thank you. Now I need you and your team to go investigate that fire after all. I received a tip that it might just be the scene of our crime.”

Pansy nodded before turning to leave. Just as she reached the door, she looked back at Harry. “You get the son of a bitch who did this. No girl should have to go through something like this. Any of it!”

Harry pressed his lips together for a moment, knowing that if he dared to ask, she'd just snarl at him. Instead, he nodded and promised: “I will.”

Once again, Harry was left alone with the silence of his office for a few minutes. The evidence was piling up, but it still wasn't quite enough. He needed to find the criminal before any of this could be used to convict him. With a sigh, he slowly gathered up the motivation to go report the news to Ron and Hermione.

Just as he stood up, there was a knock at the door. “Sorry to bother you, sir,” once of the rookie officers murmured respectfully. “I just got back from canvassing the neighborhood and... Well, there was one person we hadn't questioned before. He lives in a house in the forest and wasn't home during the search. He had left his house between noon and one to go spend some time with his lover, and as he was driving away, he noticed Rose walking through the forest with a man. Here's a copy of all the notes I took containing the witness' statement and the description of the man.”

Harry accepted the notes with a nod, and then quietly read them over. “Thank you. I just need to question him myself, and then I'll proceed from there.”

The rookie shrugged and nodded. “Understood, sir.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, I know I've said this for pretty much every chapter I've posted, but I mean it this time, the next chapter will be the last.
> 
> And oh! Have you figured out who did it yet?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Harry solves the crime.  
> Warning, this is a crime drama, and so it doesn't truly have a happy ending. Yes, the bad guy is caught, but you're still probably going to cry and get mad at me. Sorry.   
> Here's a virtual hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I probably should hold this back at least until tomorrow, since I already posted chapter three and four today. But I can't help it! When I finish writing something, I immediately want to share it with the world, lol! That's why there are a lot of typos in my works. I write them, edit them once or twice, and then post them :-)
> 
> So, warning, as I've said from the beginning, this is a crime drama. That means that there is no happy ending. I'm so sorry!!! I myself hate to read anything with a sad ending. I'm also going to go read a bunch of fluffy fics to stop from crying over this fic. You might want to get something ready to read too, lol.

When Harry was finished re-interviewing the witness, he decided that it was time to tell Ron and Hermione the news. Plus, he needed to ask Ron a couple of questions because no one had actually taken the time to ask him things like: what time did Rose leave to play with her friend?

Once he had that information, he'd have everything he needed to make an arrest. Hopefully, all of the evidence would be enough to convict the criminal of this tragic crime.

He returned home just as Ginny finished making tea. She gave him a wan smile as she summoned another cup and poured tea for the four of them. Harry kissed her on the cheek in thanks since he was grateful for the bracing drink. Then he handed Hermione the updated report so that she could read it while they sipped their tea.

“So, Ron... I realized that no one ever got an official statement from you, and we need that. I reckoned you'd prefer me to be the one to question you. Also, it will probably be more comfortable if we do that here, rather than in a Ministry interrogation room,” Harry explained.

Ron nodded. He was staring off at nothing in particular – and judging by the way Hermione and Ginny glanced at him sympathetically, he probably had been for quite some time. Harry took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Talk me through it. What happened that day?” Harry asked.

Ron took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling as he sorted through his memories. “Well... it was Monday. Even during the summer when we have a lot more customers in general, Mondays are slow. So George and I left the shop in the hands of our assistants and went to the Burrow for lunch. Mum had firecalled and let us know that she was ready to dish up at just a few minutes to eleven.”

He stopped and took a large swig of his tea. Then he shrugged. “We ate lunch, which was as loud and boisterous as ever. As you know, even though all the kids are home for the summer, we adults still have to work, so the kids all go to mum and dad's. Mum made it clear that she didn't mind just keeping them all, so Hugo excitedly agreed. He and Lily had plans to practice their Quidditch skills, but Rose was quiet. She'd been reading a book and ignoring almost everyone ever since I arrived, but she's just like her mum, so I thought nothing of it.”

He paused to give Hermione an apologetic look since his statement could be taken as an insult. She rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, but didn't really say anything. He gave her a tiny smile, then took another sip of tea and continued.

“When lunch was over – around noon or so – George mentioned that he was going to go for a walk in the forest and just think. He comes up with his best ideas for the shop like that, you know? I stood up and said that I was going to come home and work on some of the paperwork that I can never seem to concentrate on in the shop. To my surprise, Rose stood up and said she wanted to come home with me because she'd rather spend time with her friends.”

“Did she say which friends?” Harry asked.

Ron shook his head. “No. She just said that she hadn't spent much time at all with her friends since coming home from Hogwarts, and that she felt bad about it.”

“So then what?” Harry wondered.

“Well, we came home and she tossed her book in her room, which also sort of surprised me because she's almost never without a book. I was already nose deep in my bookkeeping, but I heard her run down the stairs and call out that she was off to play as she left the house,” Ron explained.

Then shrugged again. “And that's pretty much all there is. I finished my work just a few minutes before my wife came home and never suspected that anything was wrong until... Well, I guess I was being oblivious as usual, because I really didn't suspect that anything was wrong until Hermione cast a tracking spell and it failed. Before that, I was just happy to have a bit of alone time with my beautiful wife. Even if all we were doing was making dinner and setting the table.”

By this time, Hermione had finished reading the report. She looked up at Harry with clear betrayal in her eyes. Fighting tears, she tossed the report on the table.

“Harry, do you believe this?” She demanded.

He spread his hands before him helplessly. “I believe it enough to make an arrest. I sent a team out to bring him in even as I Apparated home. He should be in a interrogation room by now.”

Ron frowned curiously. “What? You found out who killed our daughter?” He glanced at the report on the table before looking at his wife. “Love?”

Ginny placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. “Who is it?”

Harry held up his hands to let Hermione know that he knew it was his responsibility to tell them. “If we're right – and keep in mind that we're not sure just yet – but if we're right, the evidence points to... George...”

“What?!” Both Ron and Ginny demanded in outrage.

“There's no way!” Ron roared.

“George isn't a killer!” Ginny shouted defensively.

Harry was hurting just as much as any of them. He shook his head slowly. “I don't want to believe it either. I'm about to go question him. We're going to take a sample of his hair and see if it matches our evidence. Hopefully, he's innocent, but if he isn't...” he trailed off because he didn't have to say that George would be going to Azkaban if he was guilty.

Harry stood up and beckoned to his loved ones. “Come on. I'll let you all sit outside the interrogation room and listen in.”

Less than ten minutes later, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron were in the private room connected to one of the official interrogation rooms of the DMLE. Harry was just about to enter the room and talk to George; he simply needed to take a few deep breaths first. When he finally opened the door, George looked overwhelmed by relief.

“Harry! I'm glad to see you – I told them there had to be a mistake.”

Harry sat in a chair across a table from George and looked to his clasped hands – which were now resting on the table. “George...” he looked up at his brother in law. “We have enough evidence to suspect you of...” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, at this point, both rape and murder.”

George paled significantly. “No... I-I didn't!”

Harry retrieved the report and spread it out on the table. “I hope not, but I'll be frank, it doesn't look good. According to everything I have, you left the Burrow not too long before the crime to be 'alone in the forest,' implying the one near the Burrow, but in actuality, no one can confirm that. Instead, it seems you Apparated to the forest near Ron's house to meet with Rose. The two of you apparently walked to a clearing where you raped and killed her.”

Harry pulled out a piece of paper and set it before George. “I have a signed statement from the dog handler that says that the dog was very interested in you, and that the interest wasn't benign. The handler is fairly sure that your scent was mixed up with Rose's, which would make sense if you were with her in that clearing.”

Harry took out a photograph to set in front of George. “This picture is of a single red hair found on Rose's body. My team originally dismissed it because Rose had red hair, but this hair is shorter and thicker. So they assumed that it was from Ron, transferred when they hugged or something. However, I had the hair checked against the semen sample, and they matched.”

“That doesn't mean they're mine!” George protested in agitation.

“No. They could be Ron's, except...” Harry pulled out another paper to set in front of George. “This is a statement from the sole witness. He saw Rose walking into the forest with a man, who he described to match you. When I showed him your picture, he confirmed it. So... You...”

Harry faltered for a moment, took a breath, and then continued. “You led Rose to a nice private and cozy clearing, raped her, killed her, cleaned her body of all evidence, and then carried her to the river where you dumped her so that it would look like she'd fallen in by accident and drowned.”

George closed his eyes and appeared to be frozen for a long moment. Then he shook his head. “No. You have it all wrong. Well... sort of,” he sighed heavily. “We were having an affair.”

Even though George practically whispered that, Harry heard him as if he had shouted that. He still couldn't believe his ears. “Sorry?”

George wiped a hand over his face. “For a couple of weeks. It started –” he sighed in frustration. “You're not going to believe me, but why would I lie at this point? It started when she sat on my lap at the Burrow and read part of a book to me. She wiggled her body in a highly suggestive manner. I told her to stop, and she did, but then she made an excuse to show me something in private. The moment we were alone, she kissed me.”

George tried but failed to choke back a tiny sob. “I am so ashamed to admit that I responded for a moment before pushing her away. I yelled at her! I told her how wrong her actions were, but she hugged me and licked my neck, and by all the Gods! Harry, she smelled better than anything I have ever smelled in my life! It wasn't until later that I realized that she was wearing a perfume that acts a little like a lust potion. It lowers inhibitions and helps the wearer get what they want.”

He stopped at looked to the ceiling, tears leaking from his eyes. “But by then, it was too late. She came to me during my break time at the shop. She came to me when I was home alone. Whenever I was alone, no matter where, if she could access it via Floo, she came to me. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't stop myself! She made me feel like I was young and in love for the first time again!”

When George stopped talking, biting his lip and looking away, Harry let him have a moment of silence. Then he tapped on the part of the report containing the picture of the hair.

“According to my team, well, Parkinson said that if she was examining a living person, she would have said the sex was consensual. She only suspects it was rape because the victim was so young and was killed during it. I can maybe believe that you didn't rape her, but I still can't quite explain why you'd kill her,” Harry said grimly, his heart feeling heavier than he could remember it ever feeling since the Final Battle.

George exhaled in a way that made him appear to slump over the table – as if in defeat. “It was an accident. There was a noise – that turned out to be an animal – that we both thought was possibly a person walking through the woods. Rose laughed and said that it would be terrible if we were caught. That no one would believe that she was a gorgeous little temptress that was leading me astray. That I'd probably go to jail for the rest of my life. I covered her mouth and told her to be quiet. That's when the fox ran from one bush to another and we knew it wasn't a person.”

George sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Then she told me that she liked having my hand covering her mouth. That it made her feel,” he shook his head and shrugged. “I don't know. Different somehow. Better. She said that she'd start screaming for real if I didn't keep my hand over her mouth. So I did. Immediately, she started shaking her head back and forth as if struggling, but when I let go of her moth, she smacked the back of my head and told me to keep doing it.”

George was silent for a moment, and then he looked Harry in the eye. “Harry, I honestly have no idea why I couldn't say no to her. She told me to cover her mouth, so I did. She struggled because it was fun to her, I suppose. After a minute or so, her struggling got... more intense, but at that point...”

He looked down at his hands, clearly filled with shame again. “At that point, we both felt very close to orgasm, so I thought nothing of it. It wasn't until after I was done that I realized... I couldn't believe it! I shook her! I yelled at her to wake up! I begged her to be playing a nasty joke on me!”

George was openly crying at this point. “But she... she was... dead... I didn't know what to do! Merlin and Godric, Harry! I had no idea how to bring her back to life and fix this insane mess! All I could do was cry for at least a couple of hours, and then...”

He paused to wipe his nose and try to calm down, but the tears just kept flowing. “I decided that if I made it look like she drowned, it would still be a horrifying tragedy, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as my little brother knowing that his daughter died in a bit of kinky sex gone seriously wrong!”

It was Harry's turn to look at the ceiling. He had to remain silent and simply breathe for a few seconds. Finally, he spoke. “Alright. Your story fits the evidence we have. Are you willing to provide a copy of your memory?”

George looked anguished. “So that a bunch of perverts in the Wizengamot can get off to it?!”

Harry shook his head. “No. So that we can prove it was an accidental death. I can't promise that you'll receive a lighter sentence or anything, but accidental death is relatively better than rape and murder.”

George sighed in defeat. “Yeah. Whatever you need,” he promised in a soft voice. He was looking at his hands again, but looked up at Harry. “I'm so sorry! I never wanted to kill her!”

Harry steeled himself as he got to his feet. “Yeah? Well, you did, so...”

He cast a spell on the door to let in no one but the officer in charge of collecting samples from George – including the memory. Then he open the door and stepped out. He knew his job was technically done, but it wouldn't quite be over until he convinced Ron, Hermione, and Ginny not to break into the interrogation room and murder George.

The worst part was that the Weasley family would forever after be torn apart by something that could arguably be considered Rose's fault. Something that George should have known better than to do. Something that was a horrifying accident. With a heavy sigh, Harry thanked Merlin that he didn't have to prosecute or judge George.

Steeling himself once more, he opened the door to join and provide comfort to his wife and best friends.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me! This is exactly why I hate crime dramas - because I myself have a tendency to side with both the victim and the criminal. I can understand why the victim didn't deserve to die (be raped or otherwise suffer at the hands of the criminal), but I can also understand why most criminals commit the crimes they do. In real life, crimes are rarely black and white. They are more often than not un-premeditated - which doesn't make them okay, just... I don't know, more human and real or something, shrugs.
> 
> Lastly, don't hate me if my story wasn't smooth like it would have been if written by someone who likes crime dramas. I am often held captive by stories that want me to write them, and I guess I like the challenge of doing something different. So...
> 
> As Wilsmi pointed out (awesome comment by the way, I really appreciated it!), I am not good at the mystery part of it. Not that I was going for mystery really, simply a crime that needed to be figured out. In any case, I would still love to collaborate with a fellow writer to give this genre another and hopefully better shot. Anyone interested?


End file.
